


Its Own Season

by carolinecrane



Series: Aftermath [30]
Category: The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (2001)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-05
Updated: 2011-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-19 01:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/195185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He never believed Harlan forgot about him as soon as he left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Its Own Season

_I looked for you for a whole year._  

The words play over and over in Marcus’ head as the elevator takes them up to the ninth floor.  A year's a long time, after all, and knowing Harlan spent all that time looking for him…well, it doesn't change anything, but at the same time it does. 

He never believed Harlan forgot about him as soon as he left.  No matter how many times he tried to convince himself it was true, he knew better.  A few weeks of wondering, maybe, or even a couple months before he wrote Marcus off and moved on with his life.  But a whole year…more than that, because it's been six years, and Harlan's standing right there, staring back at him like he's always known this day would come.

Marcus never thought it would; hoped, sure, and maybe even wished for it on the rare occasions when he let his guard down, but he never really thought he'd see Harlan again.  Not on purpose, anyway, and the fact that they hadn't just run into each other accidentally makes this even more confusing.  He thought if it ever did happen it would be one of those crazy coincidences, the kind where he's in San Francisco for business and they happen to pass on the sidewalk.  He always wondered if Harlan would even acknowledge him if that happened, if he'd recognize Marcus or if he'd walk by like they were complete strangers.

At least he finally has his answer.  He wants to laugh at that, but instead he swallows hard and steals another glance at Harlan.  He's still not sure what he's doing here, doesn't even know what he's going to tell Harlan about the past six years, and when the elevator doors open he knows he's out of time.

He follows Harlan down the hall to the room at the far end, waiting while he unlocks the door and stands aside to let Marcus in.  It's tempting to breathe deep as he passes, just to catch the scent of cologne and Harlan so he can remember later when this is all over.  When he's back in his own life, in his crappy apartment at two a.m. typing code because he can't sleep for all the memories playing over and over in his head.

Instead he brushes past Harlan as quickly as he can, because this is going to be hard enough without distracting himself with the way Harlan smells.  Besides, he's not seventeen anymore, and he knows better than to think they can just pick up where they left off. 

He takes a seat on an expensive-looking overstuffed couch on the far side of the room, watching as Harlan closes the door and crosses to a small bar near the bathroom.  He pours two glasses of something – Scotch, Marcus assumes – and hands one to Marcus before he sits down on the other end of the couch.

"To Chicago."

Marcus winces, but he drinks anyway, letting the liquid warm his insides before he looks up at Harlan again.  "There was nothing special about Chicago."

"Come on, Marcus, there had to be.  You sure were in a hurry to get there."

Marcus shakes his head and sets his glass down on the coffee table, willing his hands not to shake.  The last thing he wants Harlan to know is how hard it is to be this close to him again; even if Harlan didn't hate him for leaving, there's no way he's going to take Marcus back.  It's obvious from the expensive suit and the expensive hotel room that he's a successful businessman now, and Marcus is just a computer geek who got lucky with one game.  They were never right for each other, and he's told himself a thousand times that leaving was the best thing he could have done.

"It was the farthest away I could get with the cash I had in my wallet."

Just for a second something flashes in Harlan's eyes, but before Marcus can decide what it is, it's gone again.  He takes another sip of Scotch, watching Marcus over the rim of his glass and yeah, this was definitely a bad idea.

"The farthest you could get from what?" 

He leaves out the rest of the question, but Marcus can tell what Harlan's thinking.  He's not surprised, because Harlan's life has always been about Harlan, so of course he would think Marcus was running from him.  And in a way he was, but not for the reasons Harlan's thinking.  "Mary's dead too.  Luc killed her a couple months before Jon died."

Harlan opens his mouth to say something, but when Marcus shakes his head he stops.  His fingers are curled tight around his glass and Marcus can tell he's trying hard not to interrupt.  He wishes he could talk to Matt, just long enough to find out what exactly he told Harlan all those years ago.  But Matt's been drinking himself to death in Vegas for so long now that maybe he doesn't even remember.

"Did Matt tell you why Luc killed Randall and…?"

He can't bring himself to say Alex's name, but if Harlan notices he doesn't react.  And he knows he should tell Harlan the truth, tell him Matt was lying and it was Marcus who killed Alex.  That would end this for good, and at least then he'd know it was over.  Harlan would kick him out and tell Marcus he never wanted to see him again, tell him he was a sick bastard and someone should lock him up.  And it would all be true, but he can't make himself say it.

"Yeah, he said he tried to pin the murders on you guys when Van Owen blew him off."

Marcus nods and picks up his Scotch, taking a swallow just to buy a few seconds.  "Yeah," he finally says, setting the glass back down because he doesn't trust himself to keep from spilling it.  "He was obsessed with Jon, and when he figured out Jon didn't want him he freaked.  Once he disappeared we figured that was the end of it, but then Jon disappeared and Mary died.  Right around then Matt and I both got these weird letters in the mail, and we knew Luc blamed us too."

He stops talking abruptly, mostly because he's not sure Harlan's going to buy any of it.  It sounds crazy, he knows that, and he wouldn't blame Harlan for thinking he was making it all up.  But it's the truth – at least as much of it as he can tell Harlan – and that's what Harlan asked for.

"Jesus, Marcus.  Why the fuck didn't you just tell me all this six years ago?"

And suddenly he wishes with everything in him that he had.  Wishes he'd thought up the half-truth that Matt told Harlan after he was already gone; after it was too late, and even Matt didn't know how to find him.  If he had just told Harlan all this back when they were still in school maybe they wouldn't be together anymore, but at least their relationship would have ended the way relationships are supposed to.  Maybe he wouldn't spend all his time wondering what could have been, obsessing about whether or not Harlan had someone else in his life and if that other guy meant as much to Harlan as Marcus had.

He knows what they had didn't make any sense, but it was real anyway and it was one of those things that doesn't happen twice.  But he's the one who walked away from it, and he knows he's the only one to blame. 

"Don't you get it?  Luc was coming after us next.  He killed Mary to punish Jon, and if I'd stayed he would have gone after you."

"You're a lousy liar, Marcus."

Marcus looks up sharply at that, panic clear on his face and he knows Harlan sees it.  "What?"

"You just said Van Owen was dead.  How's killing Mary punishing him if Luc was gonna kill him anyway?"

Some of the panic flows out of him when he realizes what Harlan's getting at, but his heart's still beating way too fast and he can't think clearly anymore.  There are too many lies to keep straight, and there's a part of him that wants to start at the beginning and tell Harlan the whole truth.  At least that way he won't have a story to keep straight.  The only problem is that he's pretty sure Harlan won't believe him when he gets to the part about demons and satanic rituals.

"Luc didn't kill Jon.  Not exactly, anyway.  It's hard to explain."

"Try."

Marcus resists the urge to roll his eyes; he knows he deserves all this, just like Harlan deserves the truth.  But it's hard to remember that when he's not getting anything out of all this.  Maybe if he knew Harlan wanted him back…but that's not going to happen, and he swallows a sigh and resigns himself to telling Harlan what he wants to hear.

"Luc did kill Mary.  He tracked them down in Sacramento and killed her to teach Jon a lesson.  I think he was planning to kill everyone Jon cared about – his parents, his friends, whoever – and then when he was done, he'd kill Jon.  Only Jon must have known that too, because he disappeared as soon as Mary died, and he tracked down Luc before he could kill anybody else."

He's careful to leave out all the details about Jon's research; the demonology experts he went to for advice, the protection spells and the false trails Jon left to throw Luc off until he was ready to face him.  He doesn't mention Jon's first bungled attempt to banish Luc, how they all thought it had worked until Mary turned up dead.  He leaves out Jon's plans to trap Luc and banish him once and for all, and the fact that in the end Jon figured out that the only way to get rid of Luc was to sacrifice himself.

Harlan wouldn't believe any of that, and anyway he doesn't need to know all the details.  All he really needs to know is why Marcus left, why he never said goodbye and why he'd do it again if he had to. 

"Jon killed Luc before Luc could kill anybody else.  He got himself killed in the process, but the point is that Luc was a dangerous guy.  More dangerous than we knew when he disappeared from Chandler," Marcus adds.  He feels his cheeks burning and he knows Harlan can tell he's blushing, but he forces himself to meet Harlan's gaze anyway.  "I knew if I stayed he'd find out how much I cared.  About you."

"So you're telling me you left to…what?  Protect me?"

"Yeah," Marcus answers, letting out a frustrated sigh and shifting on the couch.  He's not sure when it happened, but suddenly Harlan's closer than he was, and Marcus is way too aware of the body heat radiating off him.  "I know you, Harlan.  Even if I'd told you about Luc you wouldn't have taken it seriously, and I couldn't stay there and let him kill you."

For a second Harlan just looks at him, expression unreadable and Marcus has no idea what he's thinking.  He knows how all this _sounds_ – insane and unbelievable and probably ridiculously romantic – but he has no idea how Harlan's going to react.  All he knows is that it's way too hot in the room, and any second now he's going to crawl out of his skin just from the weight of Harlan's stare.

"Jesus, Marcus, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

And okay, that's not the reaction he was expecting.  Granted, it's Harlan, but even he should be able to appreciate why Marcus left.  At least he could give Marcus some credit for caring enough to keep him alive.  "Yeah, well, you wanted to know."

"I think I liked it better when I thought you ran off with Van Owen."  Harlan shakes his head, a grin lighting up his features and this definitely isn't the reaction Marcus was expecting.  "So you spent six years hiding out…what, looking over your shoulder for this Luc guy every three seconds?"

"No," Marcus lies.  "I told you, Luc's dead."

Only they thought Luc was dead the first time too, and reading all Jon's research on banishing demons never entirely convinced Marcus that he'd gotten it right the second time.  He doesn't look over his shoulder as much as he used to, but there are still moments when he wonders if maybe random strangers might just be Luc looking for revenge.  He could take on the appearance of anyone he wanted, after all, which means he could be anyone.  Even someone Marcus knows, like maybe somebody from his past who shows up out of nowhere.

"Why'd you come looking for me?" Marcus asks, working hard to keep the sudden swell of panic out of his voice.

"I told you, I saw your picture in _Entrepreneur_."

"Yeah, but why'd you show up at my office?  You read the article, you knew what I was doing.  You didn't have to come down here, you could have sent anybody from your company to try to get me to sell."

"I could have.  But then we wouldn't have had a chance to catch up.  You said it yourself, six years is a long time."

He's smiling that smile of his, the one that still sends a shiver running down Marcus' spine.  The one that always made him feel warm from the inside out, because it meant Harlan wanted _him_.  Only now Marcus isn't sure what it means; he's not even sure Harlan's…well, Harlan, and he has no idea how to find out without coming right out and asking. 

His mind's racing, trying to think of anything Harlan's said that Luc couldn't know, but the past few hours are a blur and it's hard to focus when his heart's pounding so hard it feels like it's going to come through his chest.  "So you…you just came here to find out why I left?"

He'd be embarrassed that he's stammering if he wasn't so worried that the person staring him down isn't Harlan at all.  Instead he's just terrified, mind racing to remember any of Jon's research on demons and what to do when you find yourself face to face with one.  He spent hours going through file after file in the dive where Jon hid out those last few months, reading hastily scrawled notes and articles printed off the internet and copied out of ancient library books.  But he can't remember any of it now, and when maybe-Harlan moves closer he stops thinking at all.

"Jesus, Marcus," Harlan says, exasperated and it _sounds_ just like him.  Then he's even closer, and before Marcus has time to react, Harlan's kissing him. 

There haven't been a lot of guys in the past six years, but there have been a few.  Enough for Marcus to figure out that no two kiss the same, and that none of them hold a candle to the way Harlan kisses.  Slow and deliberate, like he means every second of it.  Like this is the most important thing he's ever done, and there's no demon in the world that could recreate that.

Way too soon he's pulling back to look at Marcus, expression intense and Marcus wants to laugh because this couldn't be anyone _but_ Harlan.  He can't even remember now why he thought it might be Luc, but it doesn't matter.  Because Harlan just kissed him for the first time in six years, and he'd forgotten until this moment how good it feels to be alive.

"Okay?" Harlan asks, and all Marcus can do is nod.  He knows exactly what Harlan's asking, knows how many questions are in that one word, and he's pretty sure they're going to have to talk about some of them eventually.  But it'll wait until later, because it's Harlan, and Marcus isn't going to pass up the chance to kiss him again.


End file.
